Electrical products include various types of electrical connectors for receiving electrical cards. In order to keep the electrical connection therebetween, the connector and the electrical card must be connected stably. If the connection is not stable, the signals may become intermittent, thereby degrading the performance of the electrical product.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional card connector assembly comprises a circuit board 2a, a connector 1a and an electrical card (not shown). The connector 1a is formed on the circuit board 2a and comprises an insulative housing 10a, a plurality of terminals 11a and two metallic rods 12a. The insulative housing 10a has a base portion 13a, and two side frames 14a which has two insertion slots 15a on two opposite inner sides thereof, extending out from two ends of the base portion. One end of the terminals 11a is formed on the base portion 13a and the other end is connected to the circuit board 2a. The two metallic rods are formed on two corresponding out sides of the two side frames 14a. Each of the metallic rods 12a has a clip portion 16a fixed on the side frame 14a, the electrical card plugs into the insertion slot 15a of the side frame 14a and connects with the terminals 11a electrically.
However, when the connector is first fixed on the circuit board, the predetermined space for the connector of the circuit board will affect the circuit layout. Requiring space for the metallic rod 12a, side frame 14a and clip portion 16a, for example, decreases the circuit design flexibility as that structure takes up space on the circuit board that could be put to other uses.
Second, when the electrical card plugs into the insertion slot, the distance between the two side frames limits the width of the electrical card so that the width of the electrical card cannot have variance beyond certain limits.
Furthermore, the two side frames are made of plastic so that it lacks sufficient rigidity. As such, the two side frames may deflect, distort or even break because of the extension of the two side frames during the insertion and removal of the electrical card resulting in loss of the fixing function of the side frames.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional card edge connector assembly, the applicant has proposed a patent application whose application number is TW 91207780, being granted on Jun. 30, 2003. Referring to FIG. 2, the fixing structure of the electrical connector is formed on the circuit board 1 and comprises a connector 2, and electrical card 3 and a clasp element 4. The clasp element 4 and the connector 2 are formed on the circuit board 1 separately. The front rim of the electrical card 3 plugs into the insertion slot 21 of the connector 2, and a hook portion 40 of the clasp element 4 hooks a buckling portion 31 of the electrical card 3 for fixing the electrical card 3.
By means of the clasp element, the design flexibility of the circuit board, the limiting width of the electrical card and the deflection and breakage of the side frame can be solved efficiently. However, as portable electronics become more popular, such as notebook computers, connection between the connector and the electrical card must exhibit greater shock-resistance to satisfy the frequent action and operation. The clasp element of the fixing structure is made of plastic, and the length of the buckling portion is small due to the thin nature of the notebook computer, so that the elasticity of the buckling portion is insufficient. That is, the fixing structure is needs to be improved to decrease the possibility of breakage and abrasion, so as to avoid the electrical problems associated with a loose electrical card.
As can be seen from the above, the conventional card edge connector assembly has some inconvenience and problems in use, and the above-mentioned fixing structure of the electrical card also needs to be improved.